You Might Be a Valentine Yet
by nsane1
Summary: Beka finds out she has a cousin...and then finds out she has to take her cousin with her. Pre-Andromeda
1. Wayist Convenience

**_You Might Be a Valentine Yet_**

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Disclaimer: I don't own Andromeda, unfortunately.  If I did, Dylan would be either dead or more like first-season Dylan.  That said, I do own Allie and the plot.  And for those of you who've read _Let It Be_, Allie and Andy have absolutely no relationship to each other.

Rating: PG

Summary: Beka finds out she has a cousin—then finds out she's supposed to take her cousin with her.

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**_Chapter One: Wayist Convenience_**

"This is ridiculous, Rev."

"Patience, Rebekah.  Patience."

She'd had it up to here with patience, and her dark scowl showed it.  She didn't want to be here, on a stupid planet, waiting for someone she didn't really want to see.

Rev had bullied--no, guilted her into it.  He'd approached her while she was relaxing with a steaming mug of coffee and dropped the bombshell that was the news that she had a recently orphaned cousin.  While she hadn't dropped her coffee, she'd been close--a cousin was new to her.  She knew her dad had siblings, but hadn't known any of them had children beside her Uncle Joe, and those cousins were relatively unknown.  Another cousin, especially one who lived on a planet, was a complete surprise.  And somehow, Rev had guilted her into going to check it out.

At least someone was finally coming to meet them, some Wayist monk by the name of Father Marcus, according to Rev.  That was another thing--her cousin not only had grown up on a planet, but had also apparently spent a lot of time in the monastery.  Beka had the feeling that she wouldn't like this cousin much at all.

"Rebekah?"

A blush almost crept into her features when she realized the two Wayists had stopped exchanging their Wayist greetings and had turned their attention to her.  "Huh?"

"Rebekah, this is Father Marcus; Father, this is Captain Rebekah Valentine."

"Nice to meet ya," she said, trying not to sound annoyed as she stuck her hand out.  "Call me Beka."

"Beka, I can't tell you how grateful we are and how wonderful it is that you're going to take Allie with you.  She--"

Beka cut him off with a raised hand.  "Who?"

"Your cousin, of course.  She's too old to stay in the orphanage, and though she's a great help, she's really too young to work in the hospice of the school.  It's so kind of you to offer her a home on your ship--"

She interrupted him again.  "Hey, wait a second!  I never agreed to that!"

"Isn't that the reason you came?" Father Marcus asked, looking confused.  "I did put forth the question in the message I send to Brother Behemial Far-Traveller."

"He left that part out.  Conveniently."  Beka shot a death glare at Rev, who stepped forward.

"Beka," he said with the placating tone that meant Beka was going to agree to do anything he asked, if only to spare herself moral torment.  "At least meet her.  Spend a few days together.  Who knows?  You might get along well, and an extra set of hands around the _Maru_cannot hurt."

Beka sighed.  Yep, she was going to give in.  "Fine.  Let's take a look at her."

Father Marcus called to someone, and within moments a small, sullen-looking twelve-year-old shuffled out.  "Beka, this is Alessa Kayley Valentine.  Everyone just calls her Allie.  Allie, this is your cousin, Beka."

Neither Beka nor Allie moved an inch, Beka studying Allie and knowing Allie was doing the same thing.

The girl was definitely a Valentine, although she had none of the Valentine height.  Her eyes were a similar bluish-green to Beka's, and her hair was a few shades lighter, but still red.  Her facial features vaguely resembled Beka's, but the tanner skin and scattering of freckles across Allie's nose and cheeks told that she lived under the sun, while Beka's own pasty complexion came from the artificial lighting of the _Maru_.  There was no denying that they were cousins, but as far as Beka was concerned, they came from two different worlds that she wasn't sure could ever have anything to do with each other on a daily basis.

"Hi.  I don't want to leave the planet and I bet you don't want to take me," the girl said, ending the silence abruptly.  "They want me to go, though, and since I owe them my life, I'll try to get along with you.  But not right now, cause I _said _I'm busy."  The last annoyed comment was directed at Father Marcus, and the girl ran away.

He looked apologetic.  "i'm sorry.  She only lost her parents a few weeks ago, and while their relationship was...somewhat less than perfect, she's still affected by the loss.  I assure you, she's usually very friendly."

"She doesn't want to talk.  I'm going back to the _Maru_," Beka said with a glare, but Rev stopped her with that tone and a few mild suggestions.

And so, a few hours later, Beka found herself sitting near a lake, slapping at bugs, and trying to find something to say to her cousin.  Allie took care of that.

"You know, they don't bite as much if you don't irritate them."

"No, I don't know, because I don't live on a goddamn planet, and I'm freaking irritated, thank you very much!" Beka yelled, and Allie immediately shrunk back.  Suddenly, she wasn't a sullen girl who wanted as little to do with Beka as Beka did with her; she was just a scared kid who didn't have a home or any family except for Beka.

And though she would never admit it, Beka had a soft spot for little lost puppy dogs and somehow know she was going to be taking this one in.

She was going to put up one hell of a fight first, though.  Her pride would demand nothing lest.  That torturous day at the lake was followed up by several more.  Beka found out that Allie's father had been just as addicted to Flash as her own, and her mother just as much an alcoholic as Alayna could be, and Allie had nearly died when she was born.  She'd nearly died again when her mother was unable to nurse her, and the Wayists had saved her life.  That was why she was at the monastery so often.  Not only did she not want anything to do with her parents, who had never meant to have her and didn't want anything to do with her either, but she also felt she owed a debt to the Wayists.  They really weren't as dull as Beka thought, Allie explained; they just lived a simple life and enjoyed the outdoors, children, and helping people.  In return, Beka had given some of her own life, sympathizing with Allie over the perils of a Flash-fried parent and admitting that she'd often wished she'd had somewhere to run away to.  She told Allie about her currently ex-boyfriend, Bobby Jenkins, whom she was currently mad at because he'd brought Flash junkies onto her ship and they'd broken a few things, costing Beka a good deal of money.  She also worked in how because of the cost, they hadn't eaten well for a few weeks, but Allie hadn't seemed to mind.  This continued until the absolute second-to-last day that Beka could be on the planet.  Allie was in the lake, playing in the water--she'd lost a lot of her sullen shyness when Beka had stopped snapping and started talking--and Beka was watching her, thinking about how she could ever justify bringing a kid onto the _Maru_.

"How come you never come in?  The water's nice," Allie called, sounding a little hesitant.

"I don't swim."

Allie looked perplexed.  "Why not?  It's fun."

"I can't," Beka told her, unashamed.  And, guessing Allie's next question, "I'm not on planets that often; I don't like them.  When I am on them, it's strictly for business."

That interested Allie enough that she waded out of the water, wrapping a towel around herself and going to sit next to Beka.  "Why don't you like planets?"

Beka shrugged.  "I grew up in space, and I'm used to it, I guess.  Planets feel funny, and smell funny, and sound funny."

"I guess living on your ship would be funny for me," Allie said, twisting around a rock in her hands.  "I haven't ever been off my planet.  But I could get used to a ship.  To space."

The earnest expression in Allie's eyes, combined with the fact that the girl was pretty easy to get along with, was almost enough for Beka to let her come right then.  But something still fought back.  "What can you do, Allie?  I can't have a dead weight on my ship."

Allie bit her lip, considering.  "I can draw, and paint, and do a little bit of medical stuff, and cook, and--"

"Wait," Beka interrupted.  "Did you say you can cook?"

"Yep.  One of the fathers taught me," Allie said.

That was the excuse Beka had been unconsciously looking for.  "Allie, welcome to my crew."

And since Beka had said it, she couldn't back out the next day when Allie showed up at the _Maru_with her very few belongings--some clothes, a battered sketchbook, a few pencils, and some food as a gift from the monks.  Beka would definitely have to get the girl some clothes...she couldn't believe she was thinking that way.  As if the girl was already her responsibility, even though Beka could technically still send the girl back.  But she wouldn't...she really couldn't.  Now that she'd accepted Allie as family, she couldn't turn the girl away now.

"You ready?"

Allie nodded, looking a little nervous.  She bent down and brushed the grass, as if saying goodbye, then marched into the _Maru_.  Typical Valentine stubborness.  Maybe she was a real Valentine, after all.  "I'm ready."

"Well, hold on, then."  Allie clung nervously to the railing as Beka lifted off, and then gripped on even more tightly as they moved towards the atmosphere and into space.  "Ready for slipstream, kid?"

"Slipstream?" Allie asked, a very tiny tremor in her voice.

"The only way to travel long distances.  You'll see."  Beka prepared them for a short jump, seeing as it was Allie's first time, then took them in.

Almost immediately, Beka could hear things were going wrong for Allie.  The girl ended up on the deck, heaving everything that she'd ever eaten onto the metal plating.  Beka took them out of slipstream as Rev was helping Allie to sit up, and unstrapped and hurried over as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry," Allie whispered, sounding like she was about to cry.  But looking at her, Beka couldn't be angry.  Allie was plainly miserable, her face grey and sweaty, eyes dull.

"It's okay," Beka said with a sigh.  "Rev, clean that up?"  She helped Allie to her feet and brought her to the crew quarters, getting her to lay down on one of the bunks.  "Listen, kid, I can take you back.  But you have to decide now."

Despite her pallid color, Allie's face took on a stubborn set.  "I want to stay.  I'd--I'd like to stay.  I'll do better.  I'll get used to it, if--if you can get used to me, too."

Beka nodded and gave her a hesitant smile, which was just as hesitantly returned.  "You might be a Valentine yet, kid.  Try and get some sleep."  Beka turned to leave, then jumped when Allie grabbed her hand, but managed to squeeze Allie's small hand in reassurance.

And somehow she knew they were in for the long haul.

_To Be Continued…_


	2. Bobby and Vex

**_Chapter Two: Bobby and Vex_**

"You look...presentable."

The girl looked ridiculous, but Beka wasn't going to say that in front of Rev.  She didn't want any more of those looks meant to make her exceedingly guilty.  So she said nothing, even though Allie was wearing one of Beka's shirts rolled up at the sleeves and tied at the waist, and a pair of Bobby's shorts that had somehow been left on the _Maru_and came all the way down to below Allie's knees.

"Why can't I just wear my clothes?" Allie asked, looking just as sullen as she had when she and Beka had first met, only thinner and paler.  Space--well, mostly slipstream--hadn't been kind to the girl, though she at least managed to make it to the bathroom nine times out of ten.

"They don't look like clothes anymore, they look like rags.  That's why we're going to buy you some new ones," Beka said.

Allie's face lit up.  "Really?"

"Really.  Rev, buy everything on the list this time, okay?  No giving our money away to the hungry, or we're going to actually become the hungry," Beka told him, pulling Allie along by the arm.  She didn't want the kid to get lost like she had the first time she'd been on a Drift.  Awed by all the sights, sounds, and people--mostly all the species she'd never seen before, which included just about everything besides humans and Magogs--Allie had been lured away from Beka, sweet-talked by a Chichin, and nearly sold to a Nightsider looking for a servant before Beka had managed to convince the Nightsider that Allie had a rare disease.  At least she'd discovered Allie's acting ability, the only thing good to come from that situation.  The moment Beka had started talking about Allie's mysterious 'affliction,' Allie had started acting it out, causing Beka to think that the girl might have more use than as just a cook.  But that was for later, when Allie stopped being freaked out by Nightsiders and Chichins.

Allie still looked around, though, even as she hid behind Beka whenever they came across the two species of slimeballs.  "Look at that, Beka.  What is it?  And what's that?"

"Allie, we don't have time today," Beka said with a sigh.  "Remember?  We're going to be late for that meeting if we're not careful.  Look, here's the clothes store and here's the credit.  You know enough math to figure out how many clothes you can get?"  Allie rolled her eyes and nodded.

"I'm thirteen, not an idiot."

Beka glared at her.  "I can still take you back to your planet.  Go on.  Shop."  And Allie quickly disappeared, which was good for her, because Beka wasn't in the best of moods.  Her mood only deteriorated when Vex wasn't where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be.  She should've known he wasn't going to show on time.  Sure, he'd be at the _Maru_eventually, but on his own time, and she couldn't exactly yell at him because he'd been on the crew of the Maru since before Beka was born.

And when she ran into the last person she wanted to see, her mood just got worse.

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When Allie got back to the _Maru_, she was humming.  Like the majority of the Valentines, or so Beka said, she had a decent voice--not great, but decent.  Even if she had a bad voice, though, nothing would've stopped her.  She had a bunch of new clothes and new boots, and her clothes were fun.  She'd gotten various fun-looking shirts, some shorts, pants, and a skirt...she'd had a good day.

Until she stepped into the kitchen.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously to the burly guy standing in front of her, practically chugging a bottle of beer.  He turned on her with a glare.

"Who are you, kid?"

She shrunk back.  He was humongous, and she was short even for a thirteen-year-old.  "I'm...um...Allie."

He stepped closer to her and looked down, and she backed all the way into the wall, shivering.  "Allie...what do you think you're doing here?"

"I'm Allie Valentine," she whispered.  "Beka's cousin.  I live here now."

"Do you."  She nodded.  "I think you're just stealing from me and my ship."

"Your ship?" she exclaimed, forgetting that she was terrified.  "This is Beka's ship!"

Before she knew it, her feet were off the ground and Bobby was holding her up in the air by her neck.  "Let's get this straight, kid.  Whether you live here or not, I own this ship, I own you, and I own Beka.  And there isn't anything you can do to change that.  So if I were you, I'd stay out of my way, or--"

Allie didn't get to find out what he'd do, because someone's voice came from behind them.  "Bobby!  What are you doing?" Beka exclaimed.

Bobby dropped Allie to the ground and she started coughing, rubbing her neck.  "Just getting to know each other.  This really your cousin?"

"Yep, that's Allie.  You two getting along well?"

"We're--"  Allie looked up at Bobby, who gave her a murderous look and fingered the gun at his side, and she revised her statement.  "Getting along great."

Beka smiled happily and took Bobby's arm.  "Well, that's good, because Bobby's going to be living here.  Isn't that great?  Come on, Bobby, let's put your things away and get reacquainted."

Allie watched them go and sat in the corner, pulling her knees up to her chest and feeling very small.  That was Bobby?  She could understand why Beka had hated him; what she couldn't understand why Beka took him back.  "He's horrible," she whispered.  She wondered if he was going to kill her.  She wondered if Beka would even care.

"You a stowaway?"

Someone's face was suddenly in front of hers, and she screamed.  "Don't kill me!"  To her surprise, the person laughed, and she looked up to see that it wasn't Bobby, just some lanky guy who wasn't even carrying a gun.

"Don't worry, sunburst, I won't kill you even if you are a stowaway," he said with a smile.  "But I'd get out before Beka finds you, if I were you."

"You know Beka?"

"Do you?"

Allie nodded.  "I'm her cousin, Allie."  Something suddenly clicked.  "Are you Vex?  Beka told me someone named Vex was coming today."

"Fred Vexpag, at your service, little fireball.  Just call me Vex, like Beka does," he told her, extending a hand and helping her up.  "Beka's cousin, hey?  You look like her.  Especially the hair.  So where is she?"

"With Bobby," Allie said, making a face, feeling comfortable with Vex.  He certainly wasn't anything like Bobby, and Allie needed an ally a lot more than she needed to be paranoid and mistrustful.

"Bobby."  Vex shook his head.  "Back together with him, then, is she?  As long as I've known her, she's always had a remarkable talent for picking exactly the wrong man."

Allie nodded vigorously.  "He tried to kill me."

"Well, you stick with me, cherry tomato.  He won't kill you when there's a witness."  Allie giggled, and they went to sit at the table, instant friends and allies against Bobby.  And that, Allie would realize later, was the only thing she would ever have to thank Bobby for.

_To Be Continued…_


	3. The Tattoo

Author's note: Thank you to all my reviewers, especially those of you who've reviewed twice!  So thank you to iorekbyrn, Callie-Cat, Kitty15, and prin59!

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**_Chapter Three: The Tattoo_**

"Oh, Bobby!"

"Oh, Bobby," Allie mimicked from where she was sitting, sipping a Sparky.  That was the only good thing about Bobby Jenkins' presence--Beka didn't pay attention to what Allie drank.  She didn't pay attention to Allie at all, in fact, which was only one item in the long list of bad things about Bobby's presence.  Allie could be sitting in the middle of the slipstream drive instead of at the top of the ladder to the cargo bay and Beka wouldn't even notice.  She'd just go on doing whatever they did in her bedroom. "Gross."

"What's gross?"  Allie looked down to see Vex climbing up the ladder, and smiled.  At least she had Vex, the lanky human who had, from what she could gather, worked with Beka's dad and extended his service to Beka as well.

"Beka and Bobby," Allie told him, making a face.  "I can't sleep whenever they're doing...what do they do in there, Vex?"

He laughed.  "That's not a question for me, cherry blossom," he said with a grin, using her nickname.  He had about a billion of them, and all of them had something to do with the color red.

"Why not?" she complained.  "I mean, last night, Beka started screaming and I thought she was _dying_, and I was going to go in there but then Bobby started shouting something too and I just came up--why are you laughing at me?"

"You'll learn eventually, strawberry," Vex told her, mussing her hair.  She made a face at him, which made him laugh harder.

"You suck, Vexpag," Allie said, well and truly annoyed.  She had the strongest feeling that Vex never took her seriously.  Maybe it was because she was short, maybe it was because she was a girl, maybe it was because she was thirteen, but he didn't take her seriously.  She didn't know why he shouldn't.  She helped out around the _Maru_well enough, doing odd jobs; she cooked--with Vex, who was teaching her how to cook better than anyone at the monastery had, claiming that her food was the blandest crap he'd ever tasted, which was why Allie had laughed when Beka chewed him out over never telling her he could cook--and she patched up whoever needed patching up, even Bobby when he was at the exact place between sober and trashed where he would let her.  But Vex didn't take her seriously, and neither did Bobby--but then again, she didn't expect it from Bobby.  The only respect on the ship that she got was from Rev, who respected everyone, including newborn babies, and from Beka when Bobby wasn't around.

She had really liked being on the _Maru_until Bobby showed up.  Beka had been fun to be around, unless she was having a temper fit, and they did exciting things that Allie couldn't have even imagined when she'd been living at the monastery.  Her life had been deathly boring compared to Beka's life, even on Beka's boring days.  But then Bobby had shown up.  Allie remembered him from their talks on planet--she'd thought it pretty clear that Beka hated him.  And Beka had hated him, right up until she'd stopped yelling and started kissing him so much it almost made Allie physically sick.  Then things had gotten horrible.  Allie realized right away why Beka had hated Bobby--he was a lying wacko who thought he owned the _Maru_, and Beka, and who drank as often as Beka would allow it.  He also hated Allie and had tried to get Beka to kick her out, but Beka had refused, the last bit of attentioned she'd paid to her cousin.  So Bobby contented himself with mostly ignoring Allie, and when he absolutely couldn't, bashing her around a little bit.  Not enough to really hurt her, but plenty to convince her to stay clear of him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Vex's hand under her chin, and she raised her eyes to meet his.  "What are you thinking about, supernova?"

"What do you think I'm thinking about?" she retorted, but smiled a little.  He might not take her seriously, but he cared, and that was really all she needed.

He was quiet for a few seconds, then flashed a big grin at her.  "Firecracker, when's your birthday?"

"Ummm...I'll be fourteen in five months."

"Did I get you anything for your thirteenth birthday?"

"No," she said, shaking her head, "but that's because I'd only just met you."

His grin got wider.  "Come on, then."

Allie left Beka a note on the off chance she came to her senses, kicked Bobby out, and realized that there were other people who lived on the _Maru_, then allowed Vex to lead her through the Drift they were currently docked at to a dingy, dark little place deep down in an area of the Drift Beka wouldn't approve of.  Allie didn't really care; Beka had given up to right to approve of what Allie did as soon as Beka had allowed Bobby to take over her entire being.  The woman greeted them with a lecherous grin, which Vex returned.  "Fred, what you got there?  Little chick, ain't she?"

"Little apple, sure, but I think she's old enough."

"Old enough for what, Vex?" Allie asked, eyes widening as she looked around.

"A tattoo, little red," he told her, showing her a book.  "Here.  Pick one out, and then tell Macy over there where you want it done and in somewhere around an hour, you'll have a lovely tattoo to show off to the guys."

Allie made a face as she looked in the book.  "I don't want to show off to guys."

"Girls, then?"

She stuck her tongue out at him, and pointed to a blue butterfly.  "That one.  On my ankle."

A little over an hour later, Vex was helping Allie limp out of the tattoo parlour, sporting a brand new blue butterfly on her ankle, a slightly whiter face, and a happy smile.  "You were real brave, pepperoni.  I've seen full grown men show more pain than you and getting smaller tattoos, at that."

"It didn't hurt that much, Vex," she said gamely, absolutely loving her new tattoo--partly because it was the coolest thing she'd ever seen and partly because she knew Beka would hate it if she found out.  "Thank you."

"No problem.  Just don't expect a fourteenth birthday present."

She grinned as they walked back to the _Maru_.  "I won't."  And even though Beka and Bobby were still making weird noises when they got back, Allie was happy for the first time since Bobby'd come onboard.

_To Be Continued…___


	4. Playing Dumb

**_Chapter Four: Playing Dumb_**

"Did you hear that?"

Allie sat straight up in her bed--only she could do that without cracking her skull open, a fact which she repeated whenever Vex sat up, smacked his head, and cursed.  Which he did at that very moment.

"Goddammit!  What, cherry?  Do you know what time it is?" Vex complained, drawing his gun all the same and looking around.  "I don't hear anything."

"I heard something...and Beka's not supposed to be back until later," Allie said.  "Stay here."

Vex rolled his eyes and lay back down, almost falling back to sleep.  Allie knew he wouldn't go totally back to sleep until he knew everything was safe; he wasn't stupid.  Beka would kill them both if anything happened to the _Maru_.

Allie crept through the halls in bare feet, ignoring the chill of metal, going towards the sound she knew she'd heard.  She climbed up the ladder and saw that she'd been right--two men were rummaging through the cargo.  And not just any cargo, those were the boxes that had the stuff from Beka's mother, Allie's aunt that had died.  "Play dumb, Allie...they'll leave..." she whispered, tring to convince herself as she stepped boldly into the cargo bay.  "Hi."

They whirled around, guns pointed.  Allie jumped, eyes wide.  "What are you doing here?" one of the men growled as they put there guns down.

Play dumb.  "I live here.  Why are you here?" she asked innocently, playing up on the sweetness.

"That's none of your business.  Go back to bed, little girl."

She stepped forward.  "Are you stealing my cousin's stuff?  I don't think you should do that.  That's ill-eee-gull."

"Is it, little girl?" the other man asked, holding up his gun again, and she played along by widening her eyes and stepping back.  "Scared?  Go run to your cousin."

"That's my cousin's stuff you're stealing.  It's very important.  I'm not gonna let you."

"What are you going to do about it, little girl?"

Allie thought she was doing well, and she was pretty sure she could have gotten them to leave after fifteen or so more minutes.  But things went horribly, horribly wrong.  Vex came up the ladder, yelling to her; a gun went off.  She felt a burning pain in her side, and the next thing she knew, she woke up with her head in Vex's lap in a tiny, dark room--and the pain hadn't faded even a little bit.

"Vex?" she said hoarsely.

"Hey, little rose red."  He brushed her hair back a little, and looked more concerned than Allie had ever seen him looking before.  "How are you feeling?"

"Hurts.  What happened?"

He looked chagrined.  "I wasn't sure what happened to you--and Beka would kill me if I let anything happen to you--so I came up to look.  I surprised those two crooks, they shot you, and they decided that taking us with them and ransoming you would be a better idea than stealing Beka's stuff."

Allie smiled sadly.  "Vex, we aren't ever going to leave.  Beka won't pay."

"Why would you say that, tulip?"

"She hates me.  She hasn't said a word to me since Bobby left."  That was because Allie knew that it was her fault that Bobby left.  He hated her, hated that she was on the ship, hated that he couldn't get Beka to kick her out, and so he'd left.  He and Beka'd had a huge fight and then he'd left, and Beka had first locked herself in her room and then stalked around like a dark thundercloud getting ready to strike.  She'd struck just before she'd angrily left the ship to go to a bar and--drink fruit juice, or whatever non-alcoholic drink she was currently into--and yelled at Rev, who'd left as well.  Which left Allie and Vex to get kidnapped.

"She hasn't said a word to me, either, betta fish.  Trust me...I think she'll pay whatever she needs to," Vex said quietly.  He stroked Allie's hair gently, lulling her to sleep or unconsciousness.

It was probably the latter, because she missed the entire rescue.  Vex told her later that it was quite spectacular.  Beka had come in with guns blazing, furious that someone had dared kidnap her cousin, not to mention her general handyman and explosions manager.  She hadn't paid the money, but she had taught both of the thieves-turned-kidnappers a lesson that Vex promised they would never forget.  When she'd seen Allie, according to Vex--who was in quite a lot of pain by that time from the gun wound on her side--Beka's face had paled and they'd gotten Allie straight to a hospital and then back to the _Maru_.

Allie, on the other hand, had slept through the entire thing, and woke up to Beka's worried face, in Beka's bed, with gauze wrapped around her waist and the pain dramatically decreased.

"Allie," Beka exclaimed, wrapping Allie in a careful hug, who returned it, confused.

"Beka?  How'd you get here?"

"It's a long story--Vex can tell you--what the hell do you think you were doing?  You should have just let them take the stuff!  It's not worth your life, you idiot."

Allie thought she was going to cry, and her eyes teared up, blurring Beka.  "B-beka, don't be mad.  I--I know you hate me, but--"

"I don't hate you!  Why do you think I hate you?"

"Because Bobby left because of me."

Beka shook her head, holding Allie's hand in a death grip.  "No, stupid.  I don't blame you for that...that was all my fault.  We were having an argument, and I lost my temper completely, and kicked him out...and I'm not mad at you; I just want to know why you did it."

"Because they were taking your mom's stuff," Allie whispered, closing her eyes.  "I know they mean a lot to you...I didn't want them to take what you have of her."

"Allie...Allie, look at me."  Allie opened her eyes again, and found that it looked like Beka was the one who was going to cry.  "Allie, those are just things.  Reminders of my mother.  But the real memory of my mother is in my head...I don't need those things.  My mother is dead, and things aren't going to bring my mother back...she's gone whether I have her things or whether I don't.  You...you're right here.  I'd rather have you than anything of my mother's, or even anything of mine."  She grinned suddenly.  "Well, except my ship."

Allie giggled a little, then winced.  "I'm sorry, Beka."

"Nothing to apologize for, Als," Beka said softly, hugging her again.  "Get some sleep, all right?  I'm going to stay right here."

"Okay," Allie whispered, closing and eyes again, falling asleep.  Only this time, it was with a feeling of being wanted, something she had never felt before.  And it felt good...this was the place she was meant to be, and she wasn't ever going to leave.

_To Be Continued…___


	5. Maybe We Were Dancing

**_Chapter Five: Maybe We Were Dancing_**

"Another boring day."

Vex grinned from where he was sitting, sipping a cup of coffee.  "What's our eta, stop light?"

"I hate it when you use words wrong because you think I won't know what they mean.  I know perfectly well that an eta is the estimated time of arrival," Allie said, giving him a look as she drank her milk.

"Well, look at you.  A regular spacer, now," he teased, earning himself a smack on the shoulder.

"You're horrible.  And for your information, Beka was teaching me.  Before Bobby came back again," she muttered as she pushed her breakfast around on her plate.  "Why does she keep taking him back, Vex?"

He shrugged.  "Who knows why the infamous Captain Valentine does what she does?  But just between you and me, candy cane, I think it's because he's a lot like her dad.  Rarely sober, sometimes Flash fried, possessive, but loves her."  Allie must have made a face, because Vex said, "Yes, he does love her.  He might have a weird, twisted way of showing it, but he does."

"What does she need him to love her for?  I love her, and you and Rev love her.  Isn't that enough?"

"Not quite, little heart.  You're not old enough to understand it yet, but--"

"I'm thirteen."

"Like I said, not quite old enough, but there's a different kind of love between a man and a woman who have a relationship like Beka and Bobby do."

"Does it have something to do with the sounds they make when they're together in Beka's room?"

Vex laughed.  "Something, baby sun.  Something.  Listen, I gotta go do some shopping; whether Beka's involved with Bobby or not, she'll notice if the kitchen's not stocked.  Want to come?"

Allie wanted that more than anything.  "I can't, Vex.  I have some work I'm supposed to be doing, and Bobby will kill me if it's not done."

"I thought I told you not to be alone with him."

"Vex, I can't avoid him all the time.  I mean, it's not like the _Maru_'s huge with unlimited space," Allie said sarcastically, something she'd learned from Beka.  Sarcasm would be Beka's middle name if it wasn't Elizabeth.  "He cornered me this morning on my way to the shower and told me unless I did all the things on his flexi, I wasn't going to live to see tomorrow.  So I figure it's better to do it rather than risk death, even if he will be too drunk to shoot properly by the time he remembers I exist.  There's always a chance he won't miss, and I'm not in a hurry to get another gunshot wound."

"It would get rid of him..."

Allie smacked him and went off to try and figure out what Bobby wanted her to do.  Most of it was badly spelled, drunken scribble, and the rest used spacer terms she didn't know yet, but by looking things up in the _Maru_'s database, she managed to work out most of it and got started.  Half of it was done as well as she could do it by lunch, and there she stopped, because she was hungry and tired and just plain fed up with work she shouldn't have to be doing.  "Stupid Bobby," she muttered angrily, getting up and brushing at the goop that always seemed to stick to her any time she worked on the _Maru_.  "Stupid Bobby and stupid Beka."  She stalked towards the kitchen, muttering to herself, and only stopped when she ran into the very people she was muttering about--dressed only in the same blanket.  Beka turned a brilliant shade of red, and Allie shrieked and ran away.

When Beka found her, dressed in normal clothes by now, Allie was huddled up in a recess in the wall with her sketchbook and pencil, the two items most dear to her.  "Hey, Allie.  Watcha doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing."

Beka sighed.  "Allie, I'm sorry about that.  I thought you went shopping with Vex."

"I didn't."

"Yeah...I guess that was obvious.  Why were you on the _Maru_?"

Allie glowered at her.  "I was doing the work that stupid Bobby left me."

"I'll...I'll talk to him about that, okay?  I'm really sorry," Beka said, sighing again.

"What were you doing, anyway?"

"We were...maybe we were...dancing.  Yeah.  We were dancing."

"Without any clothes on?"

"Listen, Allie, stay out of matters that you don't know anything about, okay?" Beka said, getting fed up with her.  The kid was only thirteen, for god's sake.

"Matters I don't know about?" Allie exclaimed, equally as fed up.  "Want to know what I do know about?  I know that every time Bobby comes to live on the Maru, you completely ignore me and Vex and Rev!  You forget that we exist!"

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do!  Every single time.  You only see him, and he's a freaking drunk idiot who likes to threaten little girls and who thinks he owns you and the _Maru_and everything on it.  Go on.  Say that's not true, either."

Beka sat back, deflated.  "I'm sorry, Allie.  But I love him...you don't understand that.  You can't."

"I'm sick of everyone saying that," Allie mumbled, crawling out of the wall.  "I'm going to find Vex.  You go back to your stupid Bobby and your dancing."  She stalked to the entrance of the _Maru_, then turned.  "I don't want you to have to choose between him and me, because I know what your choice would be, so I'm going to leave before it comes to that.  Just keep that in mind.  It'll probably come soon."

"Allie..."  Beka had a shocked epression on her face.

"I'm not so young, after all.  Am I."  With that, she left, leaving Beka to stare after her and wonder if she was right.

_To Be Continued…___


End file.
